Building on workplace simulation within the context of first year undergraduate civil engineering

At the University of Abertay Dundee and many other institutions around the world, the development and utilisation of Graduate Attributes is practiced as a model of curriculum as praxis. In a vocational institution, the role of graduate attributes may be seen to be much more important, and such criteria are substantially integrated into the teaching of every course and programme. It has been shown that workplace simulation enables the satisfaction of graduate attributes, and directly produces more employable graduates (having had more 'real life' work experience than corresponding graduates at other institutions). This paper presents a pedagogy model for workplace simulation activities in the teaching of a Civil Engineering course from the view of an Applied Mathematician, incorporating humanistic teaching styles and assessment.